It's in the little things

There are lots of things that make me think about my mother, but today after paying a bill and addressing an envelope, I used a stamp from a roll that had been in my mother's desk.

I find myself thinking, did she know when she bought this she would not live to use up that roll of stamps? That the stamps would outlast her? I looked at the roll in my hand, and saw that it said "Forever" on the stamps. There seem to be hidden messages in everything I see.

I made a triple batch of granola this morning. I eat it daily and go through it fast.

Later today, I will walk down my road, to an adjacent side street where my car was parked overnight. I will bring it up the driveway for the first time since paving and pavers.

Today it's hard to believe it's April. We got about 2 inches of SNOW and most of my daffodils were in full bloom! I put the potted daffs in the garage and put large pots over another type of bulb not yet in bloom, along with a few special hyacinths. I don't know if it will just be too cold for them to survive, because I see temps will still be dipping as low as 16 on Tuesday and into the 20s on some other nights. Ridiculous!

Yesterday started off with an hour of yoga which made me break a sweat. I checked out a craft show after that, since it was also in our old town hall, but didn't buy anything.

Then I went to the annual cacti and succulent show at nearby community college. I go most years and it's not that crowded but this year, oh my..it was packed and hard to get to a table to even see the plants. I splurged a bit and spent $32 to buy 4 interesting succulents. When I came home, I added to what the seller told me by researching each variety. They are from south Africa, Madagascar and Brazil and seem so "exotic" to me.

This one caught my eye first: Kalanchoe orgyalis “Copper Spoons”

You've probably seen this one before, Haworthia Limifolia “Zebra”

And here is the finger-like Rhipsalis cactus (Mistletoe cactus).

This shrub-like one is called Hatiora salicornoides “Drunkard’s Dream”

Later in the day I stopped at Walmart for some large terra cotta pots (new emphasis on container gardening this season) and lucked out by finding some chocolate-colored terra cotta pots from Italy on clearance for just $3 each. I got two, but am thinking I'd like to get more. I think they're about 10" diameter, which is fairly large.

While still at Wal-Mart I saw they were selling bags of elephant ear bulbs, 10 for $15. I was really tempted to get some as the one year I did, they were fun to grow with their huge tropical leaves, but these were a sold green variety and I remember seeing much more interesting leaf color variations elsewhere. Next weekend I'm going to a talk on orchids at local garden nursery, so maybe I can find something there.

But what I did wind up buying was this Alocasia ‘Polly’ with its fantastic foliage.

I would have a much more extensive collection of houseplants, succulents in particular, but Luther is fond of chomping/chewing them so for both is sake and the plant's, I have to devise ways to keep them out of his reach. I have a variety of raised plant stands, though not all of them are tall enough to be fool-proof. I treat every houseplant with the assumption it is poisonous.

I am experimenting with different brands of cat litter and am on a quest for an unscented, dust-free version due to Waldo's allergies/asthma. I found some Arm & Hammer 100% dust-free which I like, though it's a little pricey, but it is scented and I don't know if that will aggravate Waldo's breathing issues. For years I've purchased cheap 40 lb boxes of cat litter at BJs or Costco for about $8 a box, but it is crazy dusty and I don't much relish breathing in this super fine dust every time I clean the boxes, either. I also will try Fresh Step crystals and see how that works. I tried Feline Pine but the "nuggets" are so big I find it hard to clean the box as the scoop picks up and holds all the nuggets.

Last night I finished my editing job, which was worth about $95. Right now I'm doing 3 loads of laundry. I tidied up the bathroom and bedroom, which tend to collect clothes. Since childhood, I got in the habit of just laying clothes down after undressing and not either tossing them in the laundry or hanging them back up, depending on what it was. As a result, my bedroom starts looking like a wreck.

I am feeling kind of lazy about doing other things today but would like to cook something good for tonight and tomorrow's lunch.

10 Responses to “It's in the little things”

I have tried crystals and found that they do not last nearly as long as advertised, and changing the litter is disgusting (imagine urine-soaked crystals). Might be less disgusting if you changed it often, but then the cost is sky-high. That said, I would like to find a dust-free litter, too, but I can't have one that tracks everywhere. Finding the perfect litter is an difficult quest, if not impossible!

Re the kitty litter: I switched to the Tidy Cat Breeze system years ago when I moved into my house. It's a little more expensive but no dust, very easy care, and I've transitioned two pairs of cats easily from more sandy litters to the Breeze pellets.

You can 'pre-expand' the pine pellets if that works better for you. Stall bedding for horses is much less expensive than the same thing marketed as kitty litter. There's a great forum thread here discussing stall pellets and other options, like wheat middlings or cracked corn:

Thank you for that link. It is very interesting. It reminded me i had considered chick starter feed ($10 to $14 for a 50 lb bag) but was a little concerned after reading someone said it could develop mold. (Another person said no mold issues in summer) if you get it, you can try out a 5 or 7 lb bag and always make sure to get the non-medicated type. So i may try that and the horse pellets THANKS